Between migration policies and health policies: Haitian migrants in transit through Chile, Colombia and Mexico

Abstract

In the last decade, intra-regional migration in Latin America and the Caribbean has been intensified by the mobility of people coming mainly from Venezuela and Haiti. One of the main issues that has attracted the most attention is the new migratory corridors connecting the south and north of our continent, where the Haitian population appears as one of the groups with the greatest number of migrants throughout the Americas. The objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between migration policies and health policies for migrants, as well as the correspondence between the two to guarantee access to health care for the Haitian population residing in and transiting through Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Methodologically, this text is based on the analysis of migration policies and health regulations in each of these countries, as well as on interviews with both migrants and institutional actors to learn about the difficulties in accessing health care. The study concludes that, despite having a legal framework that recognizes health as a right in the three countries of arrival or transit analyzed, access continues to be restrictive for this population, either because they are not legalized, or because of the absence of information at different levels, inefficient bureaucracy towards these population groups for access to health services, xenophobia, as well as lack of training for health personnel in intercultural and health issues.